Encoding spatial information: The evidence for hierarchical processing

Abstract

This paper describes how individuals process spatial information, how geographical location can affect the method of processing, how an understanding of spatial information processing is necessary to model spatial choices accurately, and how spatial variations in the way information is processed can be measured. Both non-hierarchical and hierarchical methods of processing information are discussed with the latter being the more likely means of processing spatial information. Results from an empirical example using migration flows within the U.S. suggest that individuals use a hierarchical method of spatial ordering and that there is a spatial pattern to the degree to which spatial information is processed hierarchically. This pattern is shown to be related to the amount of spatial information available to an individual.